


like chasing the clouds

by klaineanummel



Series: Story of My Life [11]
Category: Glee
Genre: Age Difference, But not that much, M/M, a bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-08 14:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14695673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klaineanummel/pseuds/klaineanummel
Summary: Kurt knows that his frustration with Blaine’s newest friendship is a lot more complicated than he lets himself think it is.





	like chasing the clouds

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for an anonymous prompt I got, which was “ I would love to read about Kurt and Blaine, maybe fighting? That seems weird, but like, not when they are in the beginning of their relationship, but when they are comfortable in their relationship already?” It ended up working really well with a follow-up I already had in mind for this story, so thank you for giving me the prompt to actually go through with it!
> 
> Obviously this part includes a fight, but I promise it is less intense than the one in “long live the car crash hearts”. Also, please note that this fic takes place pretty soon after “reunited”, and will be the last fic, chronologically speaking, in this verse. 
> 
> Just two more to go after this! Hope you all enjoy <3

**November 30 th, 2030**

Kurt stares down at his cell phone, chewing on his bottom lip, trying to figure out why the simple text is bothering him so much.

 **To: Kurt**  
From: Blaine  
_Meeting Jared for drinks after work today, so will probably get something to eat then. Want me to bring you any dessert?_

It’s a fairly innocuous text, just like the dozens of other innocuous texts that Kurt has received from Blaine throughout their relationship. It’s a thing they do: when one goes out for dinner with a friend or co-worker, they always bring back some dessert for the other, or at least offer to. Blaine texts him this exact thing, almost word for word, every time he goes out.

So why does this one in particular bother him so much?

He sets his phone down on the counter and heads to the fridge, pulling out their glass water jug. He then grabs a glass from the cupboard and pours himself a nice, full glass of cold water, which he drinks in seconds.

Licking his lips after setting the cup down, he pours himself another glass, finger tapping against the side of the glass.

Of course, he knows he’s kidding himself by acting like he doesn’t know what about the text bothers him. Just like he’s received dozens of texts throughout their relationship asking what kind of dessert he wants, he’s also received dozens of texts over the last few months detailing Blaine’s plans with his new best friend. And every text has elicited a similar response inside of Kurt.

He sips at this glass of water, gaze falling on his phone.

 _Jared_.

When he and Blaine met up with Elliott and his husband for dinner back in August, Kurt never could have expected the friendship that blossomed between Blaine and Jared. Honestly, he hadn’t even known what to expect from the dinner. Was it supposed to be a one-time thing, or did Elliott expect them to become best friends again? Because Kurt wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to do that; but he also wasn’t sure if he could go back to pretending like they weren’t best friends for almost ten years.

In the end, the decision was made for him when Blaine and Jared spent almost the entire evening chatting about their various interests. Apparently they had absolutely everything in common, and by the end of the night the two exchanged numbers, and Kurt and Elliott exchanged awkward waves goodbye.

Since then, Jared had become a permanent fixture in Blaine’s social life. If he was going out to dinner with somebody, it was with Jared. If he was going to a bar with somebody, it was with Jared. If he was going to some schmoozy art gallery opening that Kurt didn’t want to attend, his first call was to Jared.

And every single time that they hung out with all of their friends? Blaine wanted to invite Jared.

Which meant that, by default, Elliott was invited as well.

Now, Kurt was right in his assumption that going back to pretending he and Elliott hadn’t ever been friends wouldn’t feel right, but he was also right about it being weird to go back to the way things were.

Not only was it awkward to see his ex on a semi-regular basis, but all it seemed to really do was remind everybody of how long Elliott had been out of their lives. Elliott admitted to having seen all the shows Rachel and Cooper had been in, which ended up making them upset because he hadn’t felt comfortable to shoot them a text and tell them he was coming. He’d eaten at the new Spotlight Diner that Mercedes and Sam opened in Chicago several years back, and then had to awkwardly explain why he hadn’t informed them that he’d be going.

None of the children knew who he was, and were prone to asking questions like, “If you were really best friends with our mom and dad, why have we never met you before?” which led to either deeply uncomfortable silence, or stilted answers that really answered nothing.

After all, what child wants to be told, “Well, you see, turns out that Elliott and Uncle Kurt used to have sex with each other, but Uncle Kurt didn’t want to marry Elliott, and so he fell out of our lives because it was such a terrible situation.”

Things were getting better, but Kurt still feels a pool dread in the bottom of his stomach every time Blaine announces that, “I invited Jared, he said he and Elliott will be here at nine!”

Eyes falling back to his phone, Kurt sucks on the inside of his cheek for a moment. He then places the bottle of water back into the fridge with a muttered, “Fuck it,” and heads to their pantry to pull out a bottle of wine.

*

Kurt is lying on the couch, one arm fallen off, his hand dragging along the floor, when Blaine walks in.

“Hey,” Kurt greets, elongating the ‘y’ and raising his arm off the ground. “Look who’s back.”

Blaine looks at him, and then turns to look at that almost-empty wine bottle next to him. Kurt thinks he should probably sit up to greet his husband properly, but the thought of it makes his head hurt.

“Hi,” Blaine says slowly. “Did you drink all of that?”

“Maybe,” Kurt says, letting his arm fall back off the couch. It feels really heavy and running his fingers along the hardwood floor relaxes him.

“Kurt, that was supposed to be for our wedding anniversary,” Blaine replies, shrugging out of his coat and toeing out of his boots. “Your dad gave it to us over six months ago.”

“Is that this wine?” Kurt asks, raising his heavy arm and picking up the bottle on the coffee table. The label is a little blurry, but he can still recognize the blue donkey printed on it. “Huh. Sorry.”

“What the hell happened?” Blaine asks, hanging up his coat in the closet and walking to where Kurt is lying.

“Nothing,” Kurt says, setting the bottle back on the coffee table. “Just wanted to turn my brain off for a bit.”

Blaine nods, eyes wide and lips pressed together tightly. “And why did you want to do that?”

“Because,” Kurt points at him, then remembers that his arm is really heavy and lets it fall. “Because.”

“Because?” Blaine encourages, crossing his arms over his chest.

Kurt grins. “You look really sexy right now.”

“Don’t, Kurt,” Blaine says, shaking his head. “Why did you drink all of the very expensive wine that your father gave us for our anniversary?”

“It was the only wine we have,” Kurt replies, shrugging as well as he can in his position. “We should buy more wine.”

“Oh, my god,” Blaine brings a hand up to his face. “Okay, you know what, we can’t talk about this right now. You’re obviously drunk, and I know how conversations with you go when you’re drunk.”

Kurt frowns, and forcefully pushes himself up so that he can sit on the couch properly. His head spins a little as he does it, but he tries to ignore the feeling, narrowing his eyes to glare at Blaine instead. “That’s really rude, Blaine.”

Blaine’s hand rubs over his entire face, then up into his hair. “Let’s just get you into bed, okay?”

“No, no way,” Kurt says. “You said something really rude to me, and I won’t go to bed until you apologize.”

Blaine heaves a heavy sigh, then asks, “Kurt, what are our four ‘R’s?”

“What?” Kurt legitimately has no idea what Blaine is talking about.

“The four ‘R’s of communication that Dr. Pillsbury gave us. Do you remember what they are?”

Kurt isn’t sure he even knows who Dr. Pillsbury is at the moment, but he decides to give it a shot. “R-pologizing to your-R husband when you say-R something super R-rude?”

“No, Kurt,” Blaine says, eyes closing as his chest expands with the breath he takes. “Reactive, Reflexive, Responsive, and Responsible.”

“Oh, yes, I did know that.”

“Great, so you know that in your current state you won’t be able to be anything other than Reactive, right?”

“You’re reactive.”

Blaine shakes his head again and says, “Yes, that’s what I thought. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

He walks over to Kurt and tries to get him off the couch, but Kurt doesn’t want to move. He’s comfortable on this couch, and Blaine still hasn’t apologized for saying Kurt can’t have conversations when he’s drunk, and he went out for drinks with _Jared_ and dug his and Elliott further into their life and _oh right_.

“I remember why I’m mad,” Kurt says, lifting his head, as well as his arm to point a finger up at the sky. “Why I had to drink the wine.”

“Kurt, I told you, we can’t talk about this right now.”

“It’s because of Jared.”

Blaine doesn’t respond for a moment, and Kurt has to narrow his eyes to look at Blaine closer, making sure he is actually just standing there. It is, obviously, possible that Kurt has gone momentarily deaf.

“Because of Jared,” Blaine finally replies, and Kurt nods, which causes his nose to bump against the couch cushion.

“Yes, it is because of Jared and because of you being friends with Jared, and what that means for me.”

“What exactly does it – you know what, no,” Blaine rubs his hand over his face again, and says, “I already told you, we cannot have this conversation right now, because you’re drunk, and I’m getting too frustrated to be responsible, so we need to get you to bed.”

“Because it makes me see Elliott all the time,” Kurt continues, ignoring Blaine. “And it’s like you don’t even care that it’s weird and awkward because all that matters is that Blaine gets his awesome new friend, and the end.” He manages to push himself up a little bit, but immediately falls back down. “You know what that is, Blaine? It’s called selfish.”

Blaine is staring at him, and Kurt knows he’s really angry, which is good because Kurt is really angry, too. It’s not fair that he and all their friends have to deal with the awkwardness of Elliott being back in their life permanently because Blaine has decided he needs yet another friend.

“Okay, you know what? You can sleep out here tonight. I’m going to our room, and I’m going to sleep. You may join me, but if you try and talk about this, I will come sleep on the couch. Do you understand?”

“I’m not five, Blaine, I _understand_ ,” Kurt drops his voice, trying to imitate Blaine’s condescension.

“Great,” Blaine claps his hands together, and just like that is gone from the living room.

Kurt tries to lift his head to watch him go, but it feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. So, instead, he drops his head back onto the couch and closes his eyes, huffing quietly as he thinks once again, about how rude Blaine had been.

**December 1 st, 2030**

Kurt has no idea when he fell asleep, or how long he was out, but he does know that his head hurts like a bitch, and his mouth feels like it’s full of cotton.

He smacks his lips as he slowly lifts himself off the couch, wincing as his new position brings the sun coming in through the window right into his eyes. He shades his eyes with a hand, closing one eye to further lower the amount of sunlight reaching his pupils.

“Oh, good, you’re up,” Blaine says, tone clipped, and suddenly everything that he said last night comes running back to Kurt. He groans.

“Fuck, Blaine, I’m so sorry,” he says, turning toward the sound of his husband’s voice. Blaine is leaning against the doorway to the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest, staring at Kurt with a tight jaw and lowered eyebrows.

“For which part?”

“All of it,” Kurt says, rubbing at his head as he settles on the couch. “Getting drunk, using our anniversary wine to do it, yelling at you, not respecting your desire to put the conversation off… Just, everything.”

Blaine doesn’t immediately respond, not moving a muscle on his face as he stares Kurt down. Kurt wraps his arms around himself, suddenly feeling very cold.

Finally, Blaine pushes himself away from the doorway and asks, “Kurt, why didn’t you tell me that you had a problem with me being friends with Jared?”

Kurt licks his lips and swallows thickly, though it doesn’t do much to take away the feeling of cotton-mouth. “I don’t know,” Kurt replies. Then, more honestly, “I don’t think I consciously realized what the problem was until last night.”

“But it has been a problem,” Blaine clarifies, taking a step toward Kurt.

“Well, yeah. You haven’t noticed how weird things have been since Elliott and Jared came into our lives?” As Blaine slowly shakes his head, Kurt says, “No, of course not, because Jared is your new best friend, so why would you notice anything outside of that?”

Blaine puts up a hand, widening his eyes in warning. “That’s unfair, and irresponsible,” he says.

Kurt sighs, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on top of them. “I know,” he whispers. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you?” Blaine asks, stepping forward again. “Because if you aren’t ready to have a mature and responsible conversation about this, then I’m going back to putting this conversation on hold.”

“No, I am. That was a stupid thing to say,” Kurt says, shaking his head lightly. “I wasn’t respecting the four R’s. I should know better by now.”

“You should,” Blaine replies.

Kurt nods. “I’m sorry. Really. I want to have this conversation.” He licks his lips, then says, “First, though, can I get some water? My cotton-mouth is out of this world.”

Blaine stares at him for a few moments, then nods his head toward the kitchen. Kurt scurries up, his head mildly protesting at the action. He hurries to the kitchen as fast as his legs will take him, and pours himself water into one of their tallest glasses, sucking it all down as fast as he can. It helps a little, but he still pours himself another glass and drinks that all as well.

While he’s still up, he hurries to the bathroom to quickly relieve himself, then back to the kitchen for a third glass of water, this time taken with two aspirin’s, a fourth refill for the road, and finally he’s back in the living room. He finds Blaine sitting on the couch, legs tucked neatly underneath him, but back squared.

Kurt sighs as he walks toward the couch. He already knows this is not going to be a fun conversation.

“Ready now?” Blaine asks, and Kurt nods as he sits next to him on the couch, leaving his glass of water on the coffee table. He settles himself on the couch so that he is facing Blaine, pulling his knees back up to his chest. “Good,” Blaine says once Kurt is fully settled. “So, let’s start with the feelings behind your inappropriate comment five minutes ago.”

“Do we have to?”

Blaine raises an eyebrow. “Do you want to start on why you felt the need to drink an entire bottle of expensive wine, which your father bought us, literally three nights before our anniversary?”

Kurt shrugs. “I guess they’re both sort of the same answer.”

Blaine stares at him, hard, for a moment, then widens his eyes, moves his head forward a little, and prompts, “Which is?”

“Well, what I think you can already guess. I’m not that comfortable with your newfound friendship with Jared.”

“Yes, that much was made clear to me last night,” Blaine says. “And just now. But that’s not what I want to talk about, not really.” He leans forward a bit, and, looking Kurt directly in the eye, asks, “Why do you think me being friends with Jared is selfish?”

Kurt swallows thickly, trying to get his thoughts in order. “Can I have a moment to think?”

Blaine nods. “You know you can,” he says, and Kurt nods as well, thankful for how well his husband knows him by now.

He mulls it over for a few seconds, not wanting to keep Blaine waiting, and settles on, “I guess I don’t fully understand this new friendship you have, or why it’s something I and all our other friends have to be a part of.”

Blaine frowns. “Can you elaborate?”

“Of course,” Kurt says. “What I mean is that I don’t know why you can’t just be friends with Jared without having to include him in all the big group activities. Jared himself isn’t a problem to me, especially as a friend for you. But he isn’t just Jared, you know? He’s Jared, _Elliott’s husband_. Him being invited to all our group events means that Elliott is also invited, which means that now every single event is me and the rest of our friends being forced to deal with the fact that I dumped Elliott and then none of us spoke to him again for like, eight years.”

Blaine puts a hand up once Kurt pauses, and so Kurt presses his lips together to stop himself from continuing to speak.

“First of all,” Blaine says, “I would like the conversation going forward to exclude any potential feelings our mutual friends may have about the current situation. Have you spoken to any of them in detail about this?”

“No,” Kurt says, frowning. “But I can tell on their faces—”

“Then,” Blaine puts his hand up again, “I think we should stop assuming what they think or feel. This conversation is about you and me, and your feelings about this issue, okay? Whether or not our friends would agree with you is irrelevant.”

Kurt sucks on the inside of his cheek, not really happy about this, but agrees with an only-slightly pouty, “Fine. Second of all?”

“Second of all, it’s clear that Jared himself _is_ a problem, because last night it was just Jared that I was getting drinks with, and that made you spiral. So, can we try and deal with everything that is happening here?”

Kurt picks at a loose thread in his pants, and says, “Okay.”

“Okay,” Blaine says. “So.” He leans forward, closer to Kurt, resting his elbows on his knees. “It bothers you that I have made a new friend.”

“No, that doesn’t bother me,” Kurt says. “It’s… It’s Jared. It’s the fact that it’s Jared.”

Blaine raises an eyebrow. “Wait,” he holds his hand up yet again, and Kurt is getting ready to slap it away. “Is this because Jared’s black? Because—”

“What? No!” Kurt says. “Blaine, what the hell?”

“Well, I’m sorry, I had to ask! You’ve never had this much of a problem with a friend I’ve made before, so maybe—”

“None of those friends were married to my ex!” Kurt says, raising his arms a little as he says it. He instantly brings his hands up to his mouth, shutting his eyes in a wince. “I’m sorry,” he whispers through his hands. “I shouldn’t have interrupted you.”

“No, but thank you for acknowledging your mistake,” Blaine says. “I don’t want to talk about Elliott yet, though. I want to talk about Jared, and why us being friends bothers you so much.”

“I don’t know, Blaine,” Kurt says. “I’m not bullshitting you, I swear. I genuinely don’t know why your friendship with Jared bothers me, outside of the fact that his husband is Elliott, and you being friends with Jared means that I now have to see my ex-boyfriend almost once a week.”

“Which is selfish of me,” Blaine says. “To make you do that.”

“Don’t change the subject,” Kurt says. “We aren’t on that yet.”

“No, you went there, so now we’re going there. So, basically, what you told me yesterday, earlier, and just now, is that it’s selfish for me to put my happiness above your discomfort.”

“Hey, wait a minute, that’s not what I meant.”

“Yes, it is, Kurt,” Blaine says. “You’re saying that me being friends with Jared is inherently selfish, because it puts you back into contact with Elliott. Never mind the fact that I only met Jared because _you_ set up a dinner between us and them _with Elliott_.”

“That was supposed to be a one-time thing!” Kurt says. “A fun catch-up chat, some final closure. I didn’t expect that you and Jared were going to get along like a freaking house on fire.”

“And so what that we did? Why is that such a bad thing?”

“I told you, because—”

“I’m sorry, I have to interrupt you to point out that you’re already starting to repeat yourself.”

Kurt takes a deep breath and straightens his shoulders, trying not to feel annoyed at how fucking well his husband is able to follow their therapist’s rules. He knows he’s given permission for Blaine to call him out when he starts to repeat himself, because it means he’s getting irrational, but it still annoys him in the heat of the moment.

“Okay, that’s fair,” Kurt says. He sucks his bottom lip into his mouth, trying to get his thoughts straight. He looks up at the ceiling, feeling Blaine’s eyes on him as he thinks about what he could possibly say about his discomfort regarding Jared and Blaine’s friendship that he has not already said. “I’m sorry, Blaine, I’m a little stuck on that,” he admits. “If this were anybody else I’d be more than thrilled that you’ve made a new friend. I’d be suggesting we invite them and their spouse along to any group activities. This isn’t anybody else, though. This is Elliott’s husband, and you can’t be friends with Elliott’s husband without bringing Elliott along for the ride.”

Blaine nods, rubbing his hands together. “Okay. I’m going to say what I am hearing you say, and you can tell me if I’m wrong. Fair?” Kurt nods his agreement, so Blaine begins. “What I’m hearing is that your desire to not feel awkward for about three hours once a week should be more important than the fact that I’ve found someone I really connect with. I’m hearing that you believe that it would be easier for me to stop being friends with Jared than it would be for you to put in a little bit of effort to make things less weird with Elliott. Am I hearing you right?”

“No, Blaine, that’s not…” Kurt stops as his train of thought peters out, fully comprehending Blaine’s words.

Oh, wow.

That’s exactly what he’s saying.

When Kurt doesn’t continue, Blaine says, “Look, Kurt, I totally understand your frustration, and I get that it’s weird to have Elliott around again, but it’s been years since everything happened with you two. You’ve both moved on, you’re both in happy marriages, and neither of your husband’s have a problem with you being around each other. Why is it so difficult for you to make a little bit of effort with him?”

Kurt looks down at his hands, which are wrapped around his knees. “It’s just weird, you know. I… I dumped him, in like, the worst way possible. He asked me to marry him, and instead I dumped him, and then I totally cut him out of my life, and the life of all his friends. Now he’s back, and we’re supposed to pretend like none of that ever happened?”

He looks up to see Blaine watching him, eyes softer than before. He reaches out and takes one of Kurt’s hands, and says, “You feel guilty.”

Kurt snorts, shaking his head. “Of course I feel guilty,” he says. “I’ve felt guilty about how things happened with Elliott for years. I was the one who ruined things, I was the one who didn’t think things through, I was the one who basically made all of our friends cut him out of their lives…”

Blaine licks his lips, and says, “You know they didn’t though, right?”

Kurt frowns. “What?”

“Our friends. They didn’t cut him out of their life. Jared told me that most of them have been in contact with Elliott several times throughout the years. They tried, Kurt, but he decided to put distance between himself and them. For you.”

“Fuck,” Kurt says, burying his face in his knees. “So, wow. You were right before,” he tilts his head to the side, looking away from Blaine. “I clearly had no idea how my friends were feeling. Obviously they’re all super happy that he’s back in their lives, since they’ve all wanted that forever, and I’m the only dick who keeps dragging his feet.”

“Don’t speculate either way,” Blaine says, squeezing his hand. “It’s not fair to our friends, or to you. You don’t know if they’re happy, awkward, or anything in between. If you want to know, though, I’m sure they would have no problem with you asking them.”

“I know,” Kurt says. “God, fuck.” He turns to look at Blaine and says, “No wonder you got so mad when I called you selfish. Turns out I’m the one who’s being selfish.”

“A little bit,” Blaine admits. “Can I ask you, Kurt? Would you be willing to talk to Elliott about all the things you’ve been feeling?”

Kurt sighs. “I should, shouldn’t I?” He groans. “It’s going to be so awkward.”

“You don’t know that,” Blaine says. “ _You_ might be awkward, but Elliott might not. He was always good at diffusing awkward situations.”

“I know,” Kurt whispers. “Man, fuck Dr. Pillsbury. Not a single argument has gone how I wanted it to since we started seeing her.”

Blaine laughs, and says, “But isn’t this better? Would you really have preferred that I agree to cut Jared out of my life, and we go back to never seeing him or Elliott again? You don’t think that would have augmented your guilt, instead of taking it away?”

“Well, obviously,” Kurt mutters to himself, “Still doesn’t mean I’m not upset I can’t get my way.”

“I know, baby,” Blaine says, and Kurt scrunches up his nose at the pet name. Blaine chuckles a little and says, “Sorry, I know you hate those. You know fighting with you just brings it out in me.”

“Yeah, I know,” Kurt replies. “Can I ask you something, though?”

“Of course,” Blaine says.

“What is it about Jared that makes you want to fight so hard to keep him in our lives?”

Blaine shrugs. “He gets me,” Blaine says. “Plus, I have to be honest, it’s really nice to have a friend who wasn’t your friend first.”

“What?” Kurt asks, frowning at Blaine. “You have plenty of friends that I wasn’t friends with first.”

“Correction – I’ve _had_ plenty of friends like that,” Blaine shuffles closer to Kurt on the couch. “Over the years, the only constant friends I’ve had have been our mutual friends. I love them so much, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything, but I am acutely aware of the fact that if it weren’t for you and Cooper, I would never have been part of this particular group of people.”

“Blaine, that’s not true.”

“Of course it is, and it’s not a bad thing!” Blaine says. “I don’t want you to hear me saying that I feel insecure about those friendships, or like I think they don’t actually like me and just put up with me because I’m Cooper’s brother and your husband. I am just fully aware that if it weren’t for you two, I wouldn’t be in this group, and it’s kind of nice to have a friendship where that isn’t the case.”

Kurt licks his lips, nodding slowly. “I think I get that,” he says. “Or, at least I want to get it.”

“We can work on it,” Blaine says. “Besides, our bi-annual appointment with Dr. Pillsbury is coming up. We could talk about it then?”

“In more depth,” Kurt says. “We’re going to continue talking about it together.”

“Obviously,” Blaine says, eyes twinkling a little.

Kurt smiles, then asks, “Fight over?”

Blaine watches him for a moment, lips pressed together, with a hint of a smile coming up from the edges. He then nods, leans closer, and whispers, “Fight over,” before pressing his lips gently to Kurt’s.

The kiss lasts barely a second before Blaine is pulling away, entire face scrunched up. “Oh, my god, Kurt, your breath.”

“Is it bad?” Kurt asks, already knowing the answer.

“It’s deadly,” Blaine replies, face still screwed up in disgust.

Kurt rolls his eyes at his husband’s dramatics, but jumps off the couch and heads to the bathroom. Before he exits the living room, though, he turns back toward Blaine and says, “By the way, I’m going to replace that wine with some even better, more expensive wine. It’ll kick that old wine’s ass.” Then, more seriously, “I’m really sorry that I did that, Blaine. I should have just told you what was bothering me instead of bottling it up. You’d think I’d know better after all these years.”

“Hey, to err is human,” Blaine replies. Then, with a cocky smirk, “To forgive, however…” and places his hand on his chest.

Kurt pulls off his sock, balls it up, and throws it at his laughing husband before finally heading to the bathroom.

**December 2 nd, 2030**

The opportunity for Kurt to talk to Elliott arrives far sooner than Kurt would have liked.

Despite usually celebrating their anniversary with their friends _after_ their actual anniversary, this year the best date for everybody happened to be the day before. Tina and Quinn are the gracious hosts, and as per usual, everything is decorated like a winter wonderland, because their friends still think it’s the most hilarious thing in the world that they had a winter wedding.

Blaine has the decency to warn Kurt about ten minutes before Jared and Elliott arrive, promising that this time he wasn’t the one who invited them. Apparently Quinn is really happy that Elliott is back in their lives, and so took the initiative.

Turns out Blaine was more than right. Kurt really shouldn’t have assumed that his friends found it as awkward as he did to have Elliott around.

“You don’t have to do it today,” Blaine tells Kurt when Jared and Elliott arrive. “It’s our party, and it’s your decision. If it’s too soon—”

“No, it’s not,” Kurt says. He smiles wryly, and says, “It’s actually about five years too late.”

“No rush, okay?” Blaine says, squeezing his hand.

It isn’t long after that that Jared has spirited Blaine away to the piano, where they begin to riff together. Kurt watches his husband with a fond smile, trying to push away the irrational frustration that it’s Elliott’s husband that’s bringing that goofy smile to Blaine’s face.

He looks around the room, and soon finds Elliott resting against the couch edge, watching Jared with what Kurt can only assume is the same look he was just staring at Blaine with. He takes a deep breath, allows himself a couple of seconds to mentally prepare, and then walks toward his ex with his back straight.

“Hey,” he greets.

Elliott turns to him, and Kurt can instantly tell the difference between the smile he was aiming at his husband, and the smile he is now aiming at Kurt. “Hey, Kurt. Happy four-year anniversary!”

“Thanks,” Kurt says, hands going to his pockets. “Um, I know you just got here, but can we talk? Privately?”

Elliott frowns, but nods (albeit slowly). “Sure,” he replies. “You know somewhere we can go?”

Kurt does, and he begins to lead Elliott there. On their way, they pass Eric’s room, where all the children are wreaking absolute havoc. Kurt wonders if an adult should attempt to control the mess that’s being made but knows that he would be the absolute worst adult for the job, and so just assumes that the parents know what they’re doing. He leads Elliott past it, into the guest room, then closes the door behind him softly.

“Is this a good private talk, or a bad private talk?” Elliott asks, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I don’t know,” Kurt says. “I think good? But we’ll have to see.” He clasps his hands in front of him, and takes a few short steps forward. “Look, Elliott, I owe you an apology.”

Elliott’s frown deepens, and he asks, “For what?”

It takes everything in Kurt not to snort. “It really shows how amazing of a person you are that you would even ask that,” Kurt says. He takes another step forward and says, “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I haven’t been particularly inclusive of you when you join our hang-outs.”

“A little,” Elliott says, with a shrug. “I don’t think that’s anything you need to apologize for, though.”

“Actually, it is,” Kurt says. “See, you don’t know this, but I’ve actually been a little… well, annoyed, to be frank, that you’ve been around so much. Not because it’s you, specifically,” he hurries to amend, “but because you’re my ex, and, well, things between us didn’t exactly end on the right foot.”

“Okay…” Elliott reels back a little. “Kurt, I don’t actually need to know this, you know?”

“No, you do,” Kurt says. “Because I recently got into a fight with Blaine about this, where I called him selfish for wanting to be friends with Jared, exclusively because it meant that I had to see you all the time. It was really horrible, and super immature, and I’ve been regretting it a lot, but obviously Blaine is the most amazing husband in the world and has already completely forgiven me for being so stupid.”

“I’m still not seeing why I need to know all of this.”

“Well, you see, what my fight with Blaine made me realize is that _I_ was the one being selfish. I didn’t want to own up to the fact that I hurt you, all those years ago, and then cut you out of my life for almost a decade. I didn’t want to face the guilt I still feel about how things ended between us, and how I essentially made it impossible for you to keep being friends with everyone out there,” he points behind him with his thumb.

“You didn’t really,” Elliott says. “Most of them kept in touch, occasionally. I’ve seen Quinn and Tina throughout the years at office stuff, and—”

“But Elliott,” Kurt says, holding his hands up. “None of us were at your wedding. You didn’t get to see any of the kids that should have been your nieces and nephews be born. You didn’t go to the grand opening of the Spotlight Diner uptown, or the one that recently opened in Chicago. You haven’t gone to any of our promotion parties, or housewarming parties, or anything. Those were all things that, if it weren’t for me, you would have been able to attend.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m not angry that I missed that,” Elliott says. He stands up slowly, and continues, “Kurt, I knew what I was risking the moment I entered a relationship with you. I knew that if we broke up, I would be losing everybody. I got that. To me, it was just worth the risk.”

“That’s really sweet, Elliott, but that actually brings up yet another thing I need to apologize for.” He rubs his hands over his face. “See, I realized throughout my relationship with Blaine just how little I thought things through when I started dating you. I didn’t consider the ‘what-if’s’. I didn’t think about what would happen when we broke up, I just had an impulse to kiss you, and so I did, and then suddenly we were dating, and it felt right, so I didn’t question any of it. And it’s not fair,” Kurt says, starting to pace in front of Elliott. “It’s not fair, because you _did_ think things through, and I didn’t, and yet when we broke up I got to keep my life, and you got kicked out. So I’m just—Fuck, Elliott, I’m so sorry.”

“Kurt—”

“No, really, I need to say this. Please, let me say it?” He manages to stop pacing, waiting for Elliott to gesture for him to go on. “I’m sorry for not being more careful with your heart and your future when we dated. I’m sorry that I broke up with you in basically the worst way possible. I’m sorry that I cut you out of my life, and that I stopped you from spending time with your friends. And, I’m sorry that I’ve been so stupid and selfish about you being here again. You belong with us, in this group, and Jared does, too. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you don’t.”

Elliott smiles when Kurt finishes, then steps forward and pulls Kurt into a tight hug.

For a moment, Kurt isn’t sure what to do. His hands flail, before settling awkwardly on Elliott’s back.

The hug doesn’t last long, and when they pull apart, Kurt realizes that Elliott has tears in his eyes.

“I forgive you,” he says.

Kurt feels like his heart just beat right out of his chest. “What?” he breathes, barely able to believe the words.

“I forgive you,” Elliott says. “For everything you just said. It’s totally forgiven.” His smile becomes soft, and he says, “You can throw your guilt in the garbage. It’s no longer needed.”

Kurt feels like the entire weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders. Like he can finally _breathe_ again.

“Besides,” Elliott continues, placing a hand on Kurt’s shoulder, “to be honest with you, I’ve been feeling a little weird about how much we’ve been hanging out. I never expected to be welcomed back into the group with such open arms, especially not since you are part of that group. I mean, we did date for like, two years.”

Kurt chuckles, looking down at the ground. “It feels like a lifetime ago.”

“It does,” Elliott drops his hand from Kurt’s shoulder, and quietly says, “Honestly, anything before Jared feels like a lifetime ago to me.”

“Is it weird if I say the same thing?” Kurt asks, fingers automatically going to his wedding band, rubbing over it casually. “It’s like, ever since I realized I loved him, all I see when I look at my past is him.”

“I think I understand,” Elliott says. Then, he chuckles a little and says, “You know, you’re lucky I’m also happily married, otherwise I might take offense to this conversation.”

“Sorry,” Kurt says. He bites down on his bottom lip, then says, “Seriously, we’re okay? Because I really am sorry, and I’m going to make more of an effort to be nice and not awkward when I see you. Which, based on how well our husbands get along, seems like it will be often.”

“Hopefully not too often,” Elliott says. “No offense, but you are still my ex. Seeing you as much as I have lately has already felt a bit much. I actually…” he seems to hesitate, eyes flicking to the door. “I actually told Jared that this is the last one of these events I will attend in a while.”

“What?” Kurt shakes his head instantly. “No, there’s no need for that. I know I’ve been—”

“This isn’t so much about you, Kurt. Well,” Elliott rolls his eyes, “yes, obviously it’s a little about you. You _are_ my ex, and seeing you all the time is a little weird. But it’s about everything. When I ran into you, I never expected to be reintegrated to the group the way I have. I didn’t _want_ that. My hope was to regain my invitation to big life events, and that’s it. I just wanted you all back in my life on a semi-regular basis. I don’t want this to sound terrible, but being around you all again, I feel like I’m back where I was eight years ago, and I don’t know that I like that feeling.”

“I’ll try not to be offended by your implication that none of us have matured in the past eight years,” Kurt says, arching an eyebrow, causing Elliott to chuckle. “Honestly, Elliott, I get it. Or, at least I think I do.”

“Good,” Elliott smiles. “And hey, thanks for asking to have this talk. I probably never would have broached anything like this with you.”

“Thank Blaine,” Kurt replies. “He’s always doing that super annoying thing where he’s right all the time and making me a better person.”

“So annoying,” Elliott rolls his eyes, though he’s smiling as he does it. “Jared does the same thing.”

Kurt smiles back and says, “Maybe that’s why they get along so well.”

“Must be. Amazing people just flock to each other, I guess.”

“Which would also explain why we ended up finding each other again after all these years.”

“I think that’s it,” Elliott replies teasingly. Then, his smile falls a little, and he glances at the door. “Do you think everybody will be really upset if I stop attending every single one of these get-togethers again?”

“Doubt it,” Kurt says, shrugging. “Especially if you make an effort to see them all one-on-one. I promise, we’re all a lot more bearable when we aren’t in a big group.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Elliott jokes. He steps forward, and suddenly Kurt finds himself wrapped up in yet another hug, though this time he returns it happily. “Thank you again, Kurt. And, seriously,” Elliott pulls away just enough to look Kurt in the eyes as he says, “I forgive you.”

Instead of replying, Kurt just pulls him back into the hug.

*

Blaine is at his side the second he and Elliott return, pulling him aside and asking, “Well?” with wide, eager eyes.

Kurt chuckles and says, “It went well. He understood, and he forgave me.”

Blaine grins, then asks, “Doesn’t doing the right thing feel so amazing?”

Kurt rolls his eyes and says, “Don’t push it, mister,” as he gently pushes Blaine away from him.

Blaine gasps dramatically. “Hey! It’s our anniversary, you can’t talk to me like that!”

“Technically it’s not our anniversary until tomorrow, so I can talk to you any way I want,” he smirks, and then, just to spite him, adds, “Butt-face.”

“That’s it!” Blaine exclaims. “I want a divorce.”

Kurt bursts out laughing, and pulls his pouting husband close to him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He feels the pout disappear as he kisses him, and grins.

When he pulls away, he says, “Seriously, though? Thank you. I never would have done that if it weren’t for you.”

“What, kiss me?” Blaine asks cheekily. “Because I would hope you wouldn’t do it if not for me.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Kurt says, shaking his head. He goes to walk away, but this time it’s Blaine who pulls him back, laughing, and brings him into another kiss.

After several moments of kissing, Blaine pulls away and whispers, “You’re welcome.”

Kurt grins and says, “I love you.”

Blaine grins back, and replies, “I love you, too.”


End file.
